Project 365, days 50-56

Another cat picture, because she's always so willing to sit still; an artist at work is a thing to behold, and something that is seen often around here; local train shows are a great destination for indulging the imagination and getting the heck out of dodge to kick the mid-winter doldrums; speaking of mid-winter doldrums, say hello to February's second snowstorm; shopping, more art, and a late (oh very late) birthday present, handmade and wrapped in little artist finery; finally, the week always ends with a stop at the bakery.

Snow day

The snow is falling softly outside and looks almost magical in the street light on the corner. Coming in earlier from a quick romp in the snow with the dogs Jon offered that someone should move Christmas to February, and watching those big flakes floating down I know what he means; two snow storms and a week of almost continual snow makes this feel an awful lot like December. It's beautiful, and I'm enjoying it mostly because I know that March, and then April, is just around the corner.

Looking outside to see this same sight on Sunday night was a surprise to us; I hadn't checked the weather in a while—we'd just been enjoying the warmth and the sun—so the heavy snowflakes were a bit shocking. Jon's bosses called Monday morning to tell him not to brave the roads to come in (being able to work from home in the winter is a real benefit), so instead we went out to brave the heavy snow blanketing our driveway.

Calvin is a big help. He actually really loves to shovel, and will shovel everywhere he goes, he just doesn't walk in a straight line while he's at it and we end up with a labyrinth of snow trails.

A foot of snow isn't really all that much, but living on a cul de sac there aren't very many places to put it after it is shoveled off and we end up with snow mountains. I love the snow mountains; they make me feel like there is more snow than there really is.

Snow enjoyment is not limited to human activity; Moose may not like the snow much, but Ollie is true snow dog. Jon likes to throw snowballs for him to chase, which he does with much more enthusiasm than he has ever chased a tennis ball.

Snow angels in the embankment—much easier than on the ground. When I was little we had to get down on all fours, then flip over, getting snow up our sleaves, in our coats, and down our boots, in order to make the perfect angel, which we only did in order to take a rest on our two mile uphill walk to school, a trek we had to make even in the deepest snow storms you've ever seen. Really.

He's not buying it.

Obviously we didn't mind the shoveling. In fact, we enjoyed it so much it we did it twice—once in the morning and once in the afternoon (it was easier that way)—and the second time we also shoveled our neighbors' acreage. Sometimes having anything to do is a good thing, especially when it's something fun that is followed by hot chocolate.

Accordions

As I sit here typing this, Calvin and Jon are hunched over the dining table, their eyes riveted on Jon's computer, watching, of all things, an accordion performance. It wasn't an accidental stop; the front page of the entertainment section in today's (nearly defunct) newspaper featured a gigantic picture of a man playing that not-so-illustrious instrument. It's hard to say who was more intrigued—Jon or Calvin—and the article, which was about a Zydeco musician playing in town this weekend, led the bigger of those two boys to go in search of accordion performances posted online. Zydeco is interesting, and we got some enjoyment out of that, but it's nothing compared to the beautiful video that Jon found of Russian accordion virtuoso Nick Ariando. Yes, I just used words like "beautiful" and "virtuoso" in relation to the accordion. I had no idea. It's worth watching if you have a quiet moment.

Project 365, days 43-49

We finished making our heart garland just in time for the weekend; On Saturday Calvin enjoyed lunch with Jon at the bakery while I finished the place runners...just in time to get them on the table for our Valentines party; Getting back to the work week is fun, when your work week consists of running wooden trains on schedule; Day 47, yes, that's a lot of garlic—16 cloves to be exact, and all of them went into our soup; I learned how to make fortune cookies this week, and after library on Thursday we were treated to some sunshine and (relative) warmth.

Sunbathing in February

The sun was shining. The sun was shining! What a glorious day. On our way home from the library the thermometer in the car was reading 35 degrees and the sun was warm so instead of shutting the garage door and running for the shelter of the house when we got home we donned sun glasses and pulled out some of outdoor toys for a while. And as I sat there on the cold driveway, the chill from the cement seeping into my three decades old bones, I started to think about those 35 degrees. In November, when the winter is first descending upon us, 35 degrees is awfully chilly—it's when we first break out the winter coats and dig deep in the closet for that other mitten we're sure was there last year—but in February, after three long months of blustery days and usually absent sun, 35 degrees is a heat wave, and has us breaking out the summer toys and sitting outside to play, only to find that, 35 degrees is still actually chilly.